The Future of Processors

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The future of processors: Watching the continuous bickering over clock speed is fun, because it appears that sometime in the very near future, the issue will be moot. Instead of a myriad of contradictory benchmarks, we'll be moving to a new formulation for raw determination of power. This is because one of the hottest topics in processor design is the so-called asynchronous processor, also known as the clockless processor.

Using a clock forces a chip to move electrons around like a guy pacing oarsmen with a drum. In a clockless chip, processes are on-demand, and synchronization is replaced by handoffs. It's like the difference between a football play based on exact timing and one based on observation and waiting for the receiver to make a move. Although timing surely has its place, it consumes a lot of extra power.

And like anything as radically different as asynchronous processors, the concept has plenty of naysayers who think it's crazy. That's why I was surprised recently when I had a chat with James Gosling of Sun Microsystems. He told me that of all people, Ivan Sutherland, one of the great pioneers of computer science, is working on clockless processors for Sun.

Sun is in an interesting situation, because it refuses to go along with the crowd regarding basic server architecture and chip concepts. For a moment, the company was almost lured into the Intel Itanium/IA-64 camp, but Sun continued to make its own SPARC chips and still produces some of the most efficient big servers you can buy. Ivan Sutherland is a genius, and since he's working on this project, there has to be something to it. If Sun manages to design a viable new architecture, the company could gain a huge edge. Keep an eye on this development.

Stooges at Work Dept.: In the midst of all the guff Congress gets for being stupid when it comes to technology, it is about to deliver a very strange mixed message. Of course, the message is mixed only for the public, whom Congress is supposed to serve. To Hollywood, the message might make a lot more sense. Apparently the House Commerce Committee has drafted a bill that would add mandatory copy protection on all DTV receivers by 2006and eliminate any obligation for cable operators to carry DTV signals on local systems. Are these guys trying to kill HDTV? Congressman Billy Tauzen ( R-LA), who calls himself the Cajun Ambassador to Congress, seems to be the force behind this effort. Exactly why this guy represents such interests is baffling.

Now as far as I'm concerned, cable operators can do whatever they want, as long as they are also subject to local needs. A cable company that doesn't serve its community should be kicked out and its wires confiscated by the local government. That arrangement would take care of itself. But the continuous tampering with TV sets must stop. I've written about this before. Simply put, people don't want to spend a ton of money on a system that will be made obsolete by Hollywood freaks who keep panicking over copy protection and use Congress as fickle puppets in a never-ending Punch and Judy show, in which the public has to play Judy. Stop the insanity!

Intellectual Property Soap Operas Dept.: This brings me to the issue of protecting intellectual property and how copy protection protects the artists, and the poor artists will starve to death if people copy their music, or whatever. This idea ignores the fact that artists already tend to get screwed out of their rights most of the time. Nobody seems to care about that.

Anyway, the notion that creative folk never get their due came to a head in another arena, as Shuji Nakamura, the inventor of the incredibly important blue LED and laser diode, will get nada for his efforts. Nichia Corp. will reap all the benefits. Nakamura was looking for ownership of a key aspect to the overall patent portfolio regarding this discovery. But like the typical creative person in a world that harps on protecting creative "artists," he'll have the house down the hill instead of the one at the top. What else is new?

While on the Subject of Blue Dept.: We're starting to see the beginning of the next iteration of laser disc technologynext-generation DVDwhich should follow all past patterns. Take two to four groups of Japanese electronics companies that ally themselves with distinctly different technologies. Each technology has advantages and disadvantages, but no company within an alliance can do anything but promote its group, since it would lose face if it did anything else. So here we go again. Toshiba is coming out with a blue-violet laser technology, battling the Blu-ray Disc folks, who happen to be the big nine of the DVD Forum.

The Toshiba proposal has an interesting angle that the Blu-ray folks seem to have overlooked. The Toshiba technology is compatible with the former DVD standard, and Blu-ray is not. But wait. Why would the DVD Forum support an architecture that is not backward-compatible when Toshiba can manage it? Like I said, here we go again.

John Dvorak is a columnist for PCMag.com and the host of the weekly TV video podcast CrankyGeeks. His work is licensed around the world. Previously a columnist for Forbes, Forbes Digital, PC World, Barrons, MacUser, PC/Computing, Smart Business and other magazines and newspapers. Former editor and consulting editor for Infoworld. Has appeared in the New York Times, LA Times, Philadelphia Enquirer, SF Examiner, Vancouver Sun. Was on the start-up team for CNet TV as well as ZDTV. At ZDTV (and TechTV) was host of Silicon...
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